Lenta : Bond placement completed

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RNS Number : 5816G

Lenta Ltd

30 May 2017

LENTA COMPLETES PLACEMENT OF BOND OFFERING

St-Petersburg, Russia; 30 May 2017 - Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA), one of the largest retail chains in Russia, today announced it has completed the placement of Rub 5bn BO--001 -01 series bonds (the 'Bonds').

The BO--001 -01 series bonds have a maturity of 3 years with a nominal value of Rub 1,000 each and semi-annual coupon.

Order books opened on 18 May 2017 and closed on 18 May 2017. The bonds were placed on Moscow Exchange ('MoEx') and settled on 30 May 2017.

At the close of book building the final interest rate of the first coupon was set at 8.7% per annum. The coupons from the second to the sixth will bear the same rate.

The BO--001 -01 Bonds are Lenta's sixth bond series traded on MoEx. On 10 September 2015, Lenta issued BO-O6 series bonds totalling Rub 5bn, on 6 August 2015, Lenta issued BO-O3 series bonds totalling Rub 5bn, in addition to bond series 1, 2 and 3 for a total amount of Rub10bn issued in March 2013. Additionally, the Company has registered an exchange bonds programs in the amount of Rub 123bn.

Proceeds from the bond issue will be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing of short-term loan facilities.

Interest rate of 8.7% set for the coupons under this bond issue will further decrease the Company's average effective interest rate. Lenta sees further opportunities to significantly reduce its cost of debt in 2017.

'Gazprombank' (JSC), JSC 'Raiffeisenbank' and JSC 'Sberbank CIB' acted as arrangers of the deal.

About Lenta

Lenta is the largest hypermarket chain in Russia (in terms of selling space) and the country's fourth largest retail chain (in terms of 1Q2017 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 195 hypermarkets in 78 cities across Russia and 55 supermarkets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and the Central region with a total of approximately 1,169,908 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of approximately 5,700 sq.m. The average Lenta supermarket store has selling space of approximately 900 sq.m. The Company operates seven owned distribution centres.

The Company's price-led hypermarket formats are differentiated in terms of their promotion and pricing strategies as well as their local product assortment. The Company employed approximately 45,689 people as of 31 December 2016.

The Company's management team combines a mix of local knowledge and international expertise coupled with extensive operational experience in Russia. Lenta's largest shareholders include TPG Capital and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, both of which are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance. Lenta is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange and trades under the ticker: 'LNTA'.

A brief video summary on Lenta's business and its Big Data initiative can be seen here.

For further information please visit www.lentainvestor.com, or contact:

Lenta                             FTI Consulting 
  Anastasia Kuznetsova,             International Media: 
  Corporate Communications          Leonid Fink & Jenny Payne 
  Manager                           el: +44 7497 783 705 
  el:+7 (812) 336 39                E-mail: Leonid.Fink@fticonsulting.com 
  97                                Jenny.Payne@fticonsulting.com 
  E-mail: a.kuznetsova@lenta.com

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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May 30, 2017 07:43 ET (11:43 GMT)